Kindred Souls
by Slow to Dream
Summary: Anna closes her eyes and breathes out slowly. She can't even say Elsa's name, can't remember her beautiful snowflake patterns, can't remember the bedtime stories anymore. Everything is nothing at all...She was never in control anyway. - Minor!Kristanna-Romance w/ Major!Elsanna-Kinship/Friendship. BEYOND: Two Souls!AU
1. Good Night

**Title: **Kindred Souls

**Author: **Slow to Dream

**Fandom: **Frozen

**Rating: **T

**Pairing: **Anna x Kristoff, Anna x Elsa friendship/sisterly love/kinda fem-slash?

**Disclaimer: **Inspiration (meaning I stole the idea from) for this Fanfiction comes from Playstation's award winning game/movie, BEYOND: Two Souls. Although Elsa and Anna aren't sisters physically in this particular Fanfiction, they kind of are. Sort of. Beware of that. Another thing: violence, angst, and other stuff.

**A/N: **This is going to be awkward at best. It's my first time writing for Frozen, and I'm using present-tense on a whim. This might be complete trash, who knows. By the way, Anna's little in this chapter. As in when-the-movie-first-starts-out little. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Good Night**

"_**Two souls with but a single thought, Two hearts that beat as one." **_**– Friedrich Halm**

* * *

_I was born with __**a strange gift**__._

_An __**ability**__ what __**no human being**__ has ever __**seen**__ before._

_It's all __**mixed up**__ in my head._

_The __**images**__, the __**sounds**__, the __**smell**__._

_I need to __**remember**__._

_Put things in order right up to __**this moment**__._

_Remember who __**I am**__._

_If I had to say how it __**all began**__, I might just as well start __**here**__._

* * *

"Anna, we've been over this a hundred times," her father's words are reverend. Noble and articulate, just as he would speak giving orders. This infuriates her. "You can't play with the other children."

"Why?" Anna clings for life, afraid she'll have to let go. And she will. "Why can't I go and play with the others?"

Her father lets out a sigh as he deflates. The royal king slumps his proud and mighty shoulders, shrinking into a tired man. "You just can't. You're not like them."

"I am, too!" Anna knows she is treading on thin ice, but she presses on undaunted. "Just 'cause I'm a princess doesn't—"

"You're different Anna." her father's words is an arrow shot straight into her heart. A direct hit. "You just are. I don't want you around those stable boys any longer, Anna. And none of those servant girls either."

He is once again the might ruler of Arendelle. The frost in his voice and the ice in his eyes leaves no room for argument. "Do I make myself clear?"

Anna looks to the ground to hide her watering eyes. The tears are warm as they trail down her cheeks. "Yes, father." She can't help but to let out a soft sniffle.

Her father looks torn for a moment before leaving her room looking haunted. He doesn't even say goodnight. He never says goodnight.

Anna retires to her bed, sobbing and choking on her sadness under the coffin of her sheets. She cries hard, biting the covers to blot out the harsh sobs like they were a mistake. A mistake. Sometimes, that's all she felt like she was to them.

And suddenly a soothing breeze chills her puffy eyes and her sore throat. It had snuck itself past the minute crack in the windows beside her bed. Anna feels the tension in her chest open up and she breathes in deep. Sweet, cool mountain air fills Anna's lungs as colors of ice and frost shift with the small breeze, leaving in its wake beautiful, glowing snow, peppered with snowflakes that shined like stars. As the white gold floats down to Anna, she lets out a giggle. A small stray frostflake lands on the tip of her nose.

"Thanks, Elsa." Anna smiles past her sheets and looks adoringly into the air, searching for her dear friend, "You always know how to cheer me up."

Another breeze rolls by, whistling past the frosted panes of her window and singing to Anna. The wind seems to be laughing. The frost edges bound past the windows and envelope the walls of her room, reflecting the spotlight of the moon unto Anna. The room seemed to become alive. The frost and snow were smiling.

Looking into the silence of the frozen stars floating in her room, Anna breathes out slowly, fog steaming past her lips. Her nose is stinging from the crisp mountain air. It's like her room has been transformed into a winter wonderland. A breathing, living fantasy, to take her away from the gray now and then, to drift her into the shining future.

"Elsa, can I have a bedtime story?" her voice takes a hesitant step from her lips.

After a silent pause, the wind seems to sing its song to her yet again. The snow in the room gather collectively, spinning and swirling together into some odd, beautiful vortex on the ceiling. And suddenly, beings of ice has transformed in thin air. A knight, a princess, and a dragon. The vortex shielding the ceiling becomes blank in the center, leaving the stage open for the ice actors.

The story is told in silence, but the way the ice shifts and moves has set such a powerful stirring in Anna's chest she begins to cry with joy. The knight saves the princess from the dragon like he always should, but Elsa's ice and snow just makes everything so much more beautiful than that. Anna sniffles out a thanks and continued to watch the frozen figurines dance and live. She wishes she could dance and laugh with them.

She may not be able to have any more friends, but she always had Elsa. She was always there, no matter what happens. Anna knew Elsa would never leave her.

A yawn managed to sneak its way past her lips and she felt sleep firmly plant themselves on her eyes, forcing them to gradually close. As she sighed into her pillow, another soft breeze came drifting by like a sweet dream, flirting with her hair and caressing her cheeks.

Frostflakes dotted the ceilings like stars in the midnight and twinkled like comets in the sky. The windowpanes were glazed with sheets of snow to coax the moonlight to shine just a bit brighter. The room was breathing and alive, watching over Anna protectively as she was ready to be floated away to her dreams. A stray wind comes by once more. It lacks the frost or magic its predecessors had, but the message it whispers sweetly into Anna ears and the way it kisses her cheeks is worth so much more.

"Mmhm…" Anna smiles as she feels the dreams and wonder take her, "Goodnight to you too, Elsa."

* * *

**A/N: **Again, Anna's a youngin' in this chapter. Sorry for the shortness, hope you enjoyed the prologue.


	2. A Different Story, A New Song

**A/N: **Anna's age is now the Anna in the second part of Do You Want To Build a Snowman. Elsa is a little different from Canon!Elsa, in case anyone didn't notice. Thanks to Wikipedia for info on Joan of Arc. Also thanks to those who reviewed. That's you, PotterPhantomKitten, redxridingxhood, and A.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**A Different Story, A New Song**

"_**Ice burns, and it is hard to the warm-skinned to distinguish one sensation, fire, from the other, frost." **_**– A.S. Byatt**

* * *

Arendelle is a land of beauty. There's no doubt in that; even among foreign lands leagues away, its beauty captivates willing trade partners, woos sheltered princesses, and excites young princes yearning for adventure.

The natural green bosom of the land, rolling hills of fertile greens and beautiful plants envelope the kingdom in a springtime air. The mighty sheets of sea-rock stand tall, breaking waves and surrounding the kingdom in an isolated crescent wall. The wind gusting from the sea floats into the air and sweeps through the land with a soft sigh from the sea. The ocean waves sparkle like jewels in the sun.

All the different sights, the smells, the people. Hectic marketplaces with merchants vying for customers, bustling streets full of life, foreign trade ships and sailors docking into the port with exotic spices and wares. There is life in this beautiful land, wholesome and clean. Adventure is out there, just waiting with trembling fervor for Anna to seize it.

And where is she?

In the library, mulling over dusty tomes and listening to her tutor through the sound of her snores.

"Princess. Princess Anna." the sound of clearing throat manages to stir her. "Please, get up."

"Whassat? Whasshappning?" Anna wipes her drool and blinks rapidly, trying to hide her crime.

"Please do pay attention, Your Highness." her tutor is a dusty, gray old man. His face sags under the weight of his age and dark circles sinks deep around his eyes, like two soulless craters. His voice reminds her of dreamless nights, rusting metal, ash. "As I was saying…"

He turns again and he's off to the races, continuing his eternal lecture.

"And so, the extent of her actual military leadership is a subject of historical debate. Traditional historians, such as Édouard Perroy, conclude that she was a standard bearer whose primary effect was on morale. This type of analysis usually relies on the condemnation trial testimony, where she stated that she preferred her standard to her sword…"

Anna tries to listen. She tries to give the man her undivided attention, but after a rather dull moment, decides to completely ditch the effort. She looks out the window with mild interest, using her hand to support her head, hoping to find something interesting to take her away. Anywhere, just not here.

As she watches, a soft draft slips through the single window open for her lecture. She always requests that a window remains open in her presence at all times. For Elsa.

"Elsaaa…." Anna whispers into the air, "I'm bbooorreedddd…." The wind ghosts over the desk Anna is situated at. Anna grumbles and folds her arms to her chest. "I _am_ trying to listen, Elsa. It's not working."

The tutor is lost in his own world, blazing past words etched into chalk upon his board, his back completely turned to Anna. The words he uses were too long and complicated; it all sounds like gibberish to her. Messy, uninteresting, boring warbles. She rolls her eyes after trying to jot down notes and failing miserably. She leans back and sighs into the air.

"Don't you want to go outside and explore?" Anna looks around the air, hoping to spark some interest in Elsa, "We can pretend we're brave explorers in the wild! C'mon!"

"Princess, please stop the chatter." the saggy heap of flesh turns minimally to greet her with dark, sunken holes he calls eyes, "Talking to the air will not excuse you from this lesson."

Anna grumbles into her folded arms as she settles down. Elsa is _not_ just air! She's a multitude of things...Elsa is the cool breeze in the spring heat, the surreal spot of shade veiling Anna from the sun in summer, the wind that bewitches the leaves to dance in the fall. But winter is when Elsa's truly herself. She is the millions of snow-flakes that dot the sky like stars, the song the frozen branches sing when the wind whistles past them, and the magic in the snow and winter air.

Elsa…Elsa is Anna. To a lesser extent.

Anna can tell Elsa doesn't like being called just air. The breeze, for a fleeting moment, rattles hard against the windowpanes and flits across the room, causing the old crow of a tutor to shiver. Anna sees the momentary weakness and her lips split into a Cheshire grin. Subtly, Anna twirls her finger and points it at the old man, willing the magic deep within her and Elsa to awaken. She promised her father she wouldn't use it, but what he doesn't know won't kill him.

A brief moment and nothing happens. Then Elsa lets go, despite Anna's father's displeasure of magic, and Anna is rewarded with another shiver and a sneeze. Anna giggles as the tutor looks about the room, looking terribly annoyed and cold.

"I…I believe we'll be closing the windows now." the tutor sniffed and walked to the windows, old joints creaking.

Anna feels the scales of right and wrong tip over completely to one side. She slowly brings her hand across her desk and sleek ice begins to slowly crackle at the path to the windows. The tutor, lost in his grumbling of the freezing cold and his aching joints, fails to notice and suddenly plummets to the floor, having slipped on Anna and Elsa's magic.

Anna stifles a giggle and watches as the tutor fails to rise the first few times, tripping over himself and the ice. It was exhilarating, using her magic like this the first time. She always plays with the snowflakes Elsa conjures for her, but she never surpassed this level of her powers.

"Lessons are cancelled for today!" the tutor rights himself in an embarrassed flurry, notes scattered like molten feathers and books strewn about the floor.

Anna is mortified at her decision for a fleeting moment, but the sweet reward of freedom stays her guilt. "Okay!" she brightly says, zipping out the room and leaving behind the mess of the tutor and his forgotten lesson.

* * *

"I don't think this is any better, Elsa." Anna is splayed out on the floor, her feet up against the grandfather clock in the portrait room. Her feet flick inside to the metronome of the pendulum. She stares into the ceiling and the room gets a little colder.

"I know it's my fault Elsa." Anna clicks her tongue with the clock in boredom.

_You're different than the others, Anna. You just are. _

Her father's words sting like ice. Snow begins to fall from the ceiling. It's silent and depressing.

Anna gets up in a huff and looks out the window, gazing sadly through the colorful canvas of the outside world from her prison. All the new ships, bustling streets, different sights and sounds. She wants what she never had. A current of wind gushes into the room, surrounding Anna.

"Elsa, I _know_ I always have you…" Anna is miserably unaffected by Elsa's comfort.

After a bloated moment of silence, snowflakes begin to fall from above, glittering and glistening from the sun's light. Anna smiled sadly as she takes one in her palms. It was so beautiful and delicate.

"Thanks, Elsa." Ann is still sad.

Anna could feel Elsa is a little disappointed. The snowflakes, in all their variety and beauty, always cheered up the young girl. Almost as if it were a sigh, the wind gently breathes life into the room, bewitching Anna's hair to fly with the wind and opening all the windows in the room.

"I don't get what you're trying to say, Elsa." the girl looks up, a little puzzled and confused.

Another wind gently pushes towards her, coming from the window directly in front of her. It wafted the exotic spices and the curious smell of the ocean to her. The sounds from the hectic market are lifted up by the winds and carried into Anna's ears.

"Oh." her voice is small and insignificant compared with the new sights, sounds, and smells, "_Oh_."

Out there, past the windows, was a whole new world ripe for exploration and discovery.

Since she is banned from having human contact from her father, Anna only acknowledged the four walls of her room as her life. But out there…out there in that bright, new world, Anna knew there was life for her.

_A different story_, Anna swore she heard Elsa's wind sing_, A new song_.

"Adventure is out there…" Anna whispers slowly in excitement, eyes gleaming from the sun as she took in her new world. But how was she going to get there? The window opened the gates, but the height is too high. There is no way she is going to get down without causing injury or attention.

Anna feels a tug in her guts and a thin trail of ice flows from her feet, snaking its way to the door. It was faint, barely there, and is melting already.

"Do you want me to follow?" Anna looks up eagerly.

A stray breeze catches her, confirming her question.

* * *

Each step feels like guilt, but the spring air and all the different mirages of people and things is intoxicating. Anna is so lost in the moment, everything's a blur, yet so clear at the same time. The sounds, the sights, the smells. It was all so fascinatingly different to Anna. And she loves it.

Elsa doesn't want to admit it, but she was excited, too.

Out in the open, past the castle gates and guards, Anna takes in the spring air. She hears the seagulls shrieking overhead, the sailors yelling out orders and vernacular, merchants seducing customers with their prices. It is all so wonderfully strange to Anna. She walks slowly, drunk from the scent of spices and food, wonderfully lost in the marketplace of the village.

"Oof!" Anna's back is suddenly on the ground, having bumped into someone.

"Ouch!" a boy is also on the ground, rubbing his shoulder.

"Sorry…" Anna looks at him funny. His fancy clothes and the way he talks, Anna assumes he's a dignitary's son.

"Um…it's alright…" the boy's hair is kissed by fire, his auburn hair handsomely swept back in a neat manner, "If anything, I should be the one that's sorry."

The boy helps her up. Anna notes the bright color in his eyes, his straight nose, his perfect lips and cheeks…

"Are—are you…around from here?" Anna is suddenly shy and she feels heat grow on her cheeks. The wind is suddenly harsh for a moment, blowing furiously around the two. He takes a moment to speak again.

Hans seems to be lost at the sight of Anna. "You…you're really pretty when the wind is making your hair do that…" He has a touch of a blush on his cheeks, his ears already crimson, as he suddenly looks to the ground. The wind howls again, as if roaring in response.

"Elsa, stop…" Anna mutters under her breath, "You're scaring me…"

"Hey!" Hans perks up, eyes bright with mischief and fun, "Let's play hide-n'-go-seek with the others! I was running for a hiding spot, but since I bumped into you…" He takes her hand, and Anna decides in a split-second decision to follow.

This is her day. Her first day out of her cage, out of the castle walls. Out into the new world. A different story, a new song. As they run, Anna can't help but notice their flitting shadows running together. Hans' shadow is so much larger than Anna's. For a moment, it looks frightening, but Anna shakes the feeling off.

Running together to the forests, the wind seems to be hanging onto Anna, as if trying to hold her back. But the wind is only a breeze, nothing too powerful. Anna, so lost at the excitement of friends and new adventure, completely fades out the wind blowing into her ear in a panic.

The wind is trying to warn her of something.

* * *

**A/N: **Yep. Kid Hans. Elsa isn't _just_ the wind, but it's kinda how she can communicate to Anna. You likey the Up reference? I did, too. Please take a moment to review! It helps the story running!


	3. You're Hurting Me

**A/N: **Anna's still a teen. If you didn't know, Elsa can't talk. Like, ever.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**You're Hurting Me**

"_**Fear cuts deeper than swords." **_**– George R.R. Martin**

* * *

"Over here, c'mon!" Hans laughs freely as Anna runs with him, hand-in-hand. The sky is particularly beautiful today, the soft fluff of marshmallow clouds ballooning over the blue skies. The sea wind is crisp and the sound of breaking waves and seagulls feels alive. Everything feels right about the weather with one exception: the raging winds and deep, unsettling cold in Anna's bones.

"What's wrong with you?" Anna whispers fiercely under her breath as Hans let go of her hand for a brief moment, running ahead of her with his hands stretched out, as if trying to catch the wind.

The wind howls its retort, stinging Anna's cheeks and numbing her ears. She doesn't want to admit it, but Elsa is scaring her right now. Anna has never seen Elsa this angry before. It doesn't matter anyway. Anna's so drunk in the moment—having a new friend in a strange new world outside of her walls—that she completely disregards Elsa and ignores her. The wind whips around her furiously, catching Anna with a stray snowflake and specks of hail.

The outline of trees come closer as Anna and Hans race each other. It starts out as a glint in their eyes, chemistry bubbling between them. Hans and Elsa collapses at the edge of the forest, Elsa's winds catching them from behind as the tall grass dances to her arrival. Anna still does not notice Elsa. She only sees Hans beside her in the grass, grinning as he catches his breath from their race and her beauty.

Anna doesn't notice how suddenly quiet Elsa gets. She doesn't realize that the wind stops so suddenly, it's as if the roaring gale had been murdered. The dead silence is deafening. She turns back to those beautiful jade eyes that just looks so perfect. Anna can't explain the feeling blooming in her chest as she stares into his eyes. Is this feeling the reason why the knight saves the princess? Is this love?

Hans looks into Anna's eyes carefully. "Are you from around here? I never saw you before."

"I—I…I don't get around much…" it feels as if her voice is stuck in her throat, trying to claw its way out, "I meant outside, not around, because I'm kinda stuck inside even if I don't want to—"

"What do you mean?" the gorgeous boy's brows crease with a kind worry, the one that makes Anna want to kiss him.

"Well…my father doesn't like it when I'm outside…" Anna can't decide whether or not to tell the boy.

"He can just force you to do that? How?"

But the young prince's beautiful eyes seems to coax something deep inside of her out. Things she's not supposed to tell anyone.

"He's the King." Anna shrugs, looking to the sky, "He can do whatever he wants."

A moment of bloated silence passes as Hans adjusts to the situation.

"Well, I think he's pretty stupid to let someone like you not enjoy the world." If he's shocked that Anna is the princess of Arendelle, he doesn't show it. "Someone like you…needs the world to see her."

"Why?" Anna knows the answer but she plays the game.

"Well…you know…I…" it's his turn to fumble with his words, and Anna can't help but to cringe inside if that's what she sounded like earlier. She decides to save her handsome knight from himself.

"Want to see something cool?"

Hans captures his self-control and wrings it down till he was himself again. "Like what?"

They get up from their grassy refuge. Anna holds up a palm, and for the first time since she had met Hans, remembers Elsa. She frowns with concentration, willing a burst of snow magic to appear, but Elsa refuses to cooperate. Anna wills for Elsa to respond, but the silence in the air and in her head is frightening.

_C'mon Elsa…work with me here…_Anna prodded at Elsa's presence with her mind.

They have a connection, Anna and Elsa. She feels as if they are attached together. But as Anna waits for her answer, there is no wind, no sudden chill…the comforting cool has left her. Was Elsa mad at her? Well, Anna decides, it takes two to tango.

Anna focuses in on her powers, forcing her spirit entity to obey. Elsa may be the one with the powers, but Anna is the one who has control. And Anna isn't willing to give that to Elsa any time soon.

As a flurry shoots out of Anna's hand, swirls of ice and frost quickly melt and disappears into the summer heat. Hans face is alight with wonder, but Anna feels dirty. Sick.

The overbearing pang of guilt hits her square in the chest, into her heart. How could she have forced Elsa's hand? Was her power even Anna's to control? As her eyes grows wide and her face blanches in horror at what she's done, she could feel Elsa's torment. It was a quiet hum in the air, barely noticeable with even her ears, but still recognizable. It resonates in her head, where only Anna can hear it. It comes like a soft cry, an eerie chime, from her soul.

It is the first time Elsa had ever communicated to her without using the wind and snow.

But the delight of communication is nothing compared to the stabbing pain of guilt that came forth.

She actually used sound.

Because Elsa is in pain.

Because of Anna.

Anna had _hurt_ _Elsa_.

The quiet, frightened hum is clear, cutting through the forefront of her mind. And instantly, Anna regrets her decision. It's so soft, so delicate…it felt broken. Like Anna had taken it and snapped it into two.

They never stepped over that boundary before, forcing one another to do what the other wished. Before leaving the walls, her old world, Anna and Elsa were the perfect unity of the mind.

The distance she feels now, coupled with Elsa's pain, is killing her softly. The eerie ringing stops and Elsa is once again completely unattainable and invisible to Anna.

But Hans doesn't seem to care or notice the pain and hurt in her eyes. Anna's—no, Elsa's—powers ensnares him.

"That was crazy, Anna! What _is_ that?" Hans' eyes shine with curiosity and innocent wonder. It helps Anna feel a little better. She gives a soft smile, knowing Hans will never understand, that Anna had never asked for any of this. She never asked for the power of ice and snow, never asked for Elsa. At the same time, whilst never asking for her, Anna knew she loveds Elsa unconditionally. Elsa is the sister Anna never—

"Hans! Who's the girl?" a deeper voice rings through the clearing, followed by rude catcalls and jeering.

A group of boys walks towards them, stiff and proper to the point where Anna wishes one would trip. She assumes that the one leading the rest is the oldest. He is tall, blonde tresses gelled to the side. His eyes are cold and the sneer gashed into his cruel face is equally disturbing to Anna.

"So, runt, who's your friend?" the tall one's voice is dangerously silky. It reminds Anna of a spider, hiding in the dark ready to sink its fangs into its prey.

For a moment, complete fear and desperation clouds "the runt's" eyes, and his thin lips press into each other so tightly Anna wonders if they'll disappear.

Hans' face melts from perfect radiance to a disgusting sneer, his face cruelly twisted and warped from the previous boy Anna knew. The stranger once called "Hans" steps away from Anna and camouflages with the pack of wolves that could only be his brothers. They eye her like a wolf would a rabbit. Anna could feel the pack grow restless.

"She's only my pet." Hans has to look up to address his brother. It must hurt his neck. And his pride. "A stupid, worthless, little thing."

"I was going to take her here for a walk like the stupid little thing she is."

His words slash through Anna's heart. How could he say something like that? After she opened up to him, the boy just throws her like a broken toy. Like Anna had Elsa, Hans chooses himself against Anna.

Anna forced Elsa to entertain him.

She revealed her life's secret and fancied the notion that maybe Hans could be the anchor to her new life.

She put him in front of Elsa.

The butterflies she felt fluttering in her stomach and the dizzying warmth to her cheeks belonged to Hans. He tore those apart. She thought her heart was his, too. He tore that as well.

_Anna hurt Elsa for him. _

"Is that so, runt?" a swift strike to Hans' face leaves him curled up on the grass speechless. Seeing him curled up into a ball, Anna could only guess that this was routine. She'd feel pity for Hans if she wasn't so upset and scared.

"She's your little pet, mutt?" the tall one begins kicking him, the others behind him giggling in savage glee, "A small little doggy for the disgusting half-breed mutt?"

The tall one's eyes glint in a light that petrifies Anna. Her legs are lead and her eyes are glued to the thrashing. So Hans doesn't have the same mother as the rest of them. It explains the difference of Hans' autumn locks to their disgustingly radiant golden-summer hair.

The kicking stops, and Anna could barely make out a small sniffle and whimper from the trembling ball of misery beside her. The rest of the boys surround her, leering menacingly at her. The pack has grown restless.

"Adam, Adam!" the pack shifts with savage agitation, the wild gleam in their eyes burning into Anna and the summer sweat sticking to their skin, "What should we do with the little doggy?"

So Adam is his name. Anna can't help to notice in a detached thought how fitting that name is for him.

"Well…" Adam sends one last brutal kick to Hans, "We could always play with the runt's pet."

Anna feels fear swell painfully in her chest. She can feel her heart pounding and she can't stop the shaking. She misses home now, the safety of her walls. She's completely fine with staring out the window, instead of being on the other side. The boys edge closer to her, as if barely holding back from tearing her to pieces. And so suddenly she misses home.

They quickly converge on her, grabbing handfuls of her hair and kicking and shouting. They screamed something fierce, vicious delight howling through their lungs and excited whooping and hollering filling the silent air. Anna feels the tears roll down in fat drops as her head is repeatedly thrashed around.

"Stupid, stupid pet!" she hears one shriek, "A stupid dog for a stupid mutt! Isn't that right, dog-girl?"

"Don't ruin her face! She's too pretty to savage her face!" Anna hears another cry out excitedly.

"Beat the dog-girl! I don't care, beat her!" the excited panting and wild blows to her head and shoulders begin to smart terribly. "You're stupid for going with the dirty mutt, aren't you dog-girl?"

Anna begins to wail as she is thrown into the ground. Feeling fine leather boots and shoes slam into her body, Anna smells blood and realizes she's the cause. She's so terrified, she can't move. She so scared. So scared.

The girl misses home so terribly, the comfort of her walls and windows, and wonders if she'll die. She curls into a ball, just like the half-breed mutt did, and wishes that they would beat him instead. She wonders if she deserves this for hurting Elsa. _Elsa_, Anna thinks in a concussed thought, _Elsa_.

She holds onto that name like a lifeline. It's keeping her awake and alive. Keeping her from just letting them beat her to death. She loves Elsa and their kindred bond.

And suddenly, Anna feels a great pulsing in her, and a violent, shrill, hum in the air. For a fleeting moment, everything is still to Anna, moving impossibly slow. The air shimmers and vibrates in her eyes.

Anna no longer feels pain. She feels a glowing warmth inside her blossom throughout her body. Icy tendrils shoot out of her skin. The vibrant, aggressive buzz in her head is so loud she can't think or move. It's so loud, Anna feels her ears pop and her vision shake. She puts her head in between in hands and she screams a thousand screams.

And then the boys were gone. The smashing boots and filthy hands are off her. Once again, Anna feels the familiar cool air whip around her like a fog. Frozen shards in the air explode as she sits up, blood flowing from her nose. Elsa freezes it, stemming the crimson into ice.

Looking around, Anna feels strange. Everything is so slow and calm. She can hear faint cries of horror and wailing of pain, but nothing really registers into her head. The boys were on the ground, some in pain and others completely petrified. Tendrils of ice and frost swirl around her and dangerous pikes of ice have been ripped from the soil of the frozen grass into the air all around her. Their sharp tips glisten dangerously.

She looks into her hands. Did Elsa do this? Anna stands up and views the carnage. Even now, the swirling ice storm rages on all around her. By the blanching faces of the unconscious boys around her, she can tell they were going to freeze to death. At the sight of frozen blood and vicious ice, everything seems to come back to real-time.

"Elsa…?" her tongue is thick in her mouth and her voice is hoarse, "Elsa…Elsa—stop it…you're going to kill them!"

The wind roars at her, gales whipping around her so violently she is slammed back into the ground. Thick shards of ice flying through the air destroys anything in their way. Anna looks around desperately, dizzy from the blood leaking from her head.

"Please…please, Elsa." Anna whispers desperately, petrified by her entity's rage, "Stop this. Don't hurt them anymore…"

The cyclone of rage and ice screams at her and continues far more violently than before.

Anna realizes it now. Elsa isn't mad at the boys—Elsa is upset with _her_.

The storm rages on to confirm her thoughts, which Anna knows Elsa can hear, but never harms her. The winds whip around accusingly, hating her but loving her too much to hurt her. Anna remembers how she had hurt Elsa and shoved her away. Elsa was in pain.

"I'm sorry, Elsa! I'm really sorry, please don't take it out on them!" Anna pleads desperately now, on her knees and looking all around her. Anna, for the first time since her birth, is shaking from the cold.

For the first time, she's afraid of Elsa.

And from that fear, the cyclone of ice and monsoon of snow die abruptly. Whispers of wind sweep around her slowly. The snow residue of the storm gather timidly around Anna gently, as if wrapping her in a blanket of beautiful white.

"…Elsa?" Anna looks up at the sky for the umpteenth time, still shaking uncontrollably. Anna finds she has difficulty saying her name. "Elsa, are you there?"

As is an apology, snowflakes seems to dot the air now, glistening like tears in the sky. Elsa is sorry for scaring Anna—that much she can tell. Anna can feel from their link that Elsa is feeling regret and…love? Anna is confused, but she accepts the snowflakes. They remind her of all the times Elsa had comforted her, played with her, and loved her. The snowflakes were always special.

Tears spill from her eyes as she stares into the sky with wonder. She feels an innumerable sadness yet comfort at the falling snowflakes. It's as if Elsa it trying to reverse time, before they decided to foolishly leave their fortress of solitude. Anna knows it's too late. After seeing that side of Elsa, things would never be the same.

But for now, Anna enjoys the snowflakes. And cries for Elsa. Taking a particularly large and glowing snowflake into her outstretched palms, Anna weeps gently.

These snowflakes, they were Elsa's tears. She's weeping, too.

Anna knows that things would never be the same, but she looks deep into the snowflake in her palms. It shines with a desperate hope and lingers long into her palms before melting, as if trying to leave a message.

"_I am you__. You are_ me._ Together, we are awake._"

She remembers saying these words in the dark alone, once upon a time.

She looks down, smiling sadly with tears freezing against her cheeks. She can hear yelling and horses near. Heavy footsteps, and she's still looking at Elsa's tears. Nothing else really matters.

Then a blow strikes her from behind the head and she knows nothing but darkness.

* * *

**A/N: **I don't have a beta reader or a good sense of editing so this chapter is probably the shits. Hope you enjoy it all the same and please leave a review!


	4. Do You Hate Me?

**A/N: **Thank you PotterPhantomKitten, , frozen is life, A, and redxridingxhood. This one's for you.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Do You Hate Me?**

"_**You were never in control anyway."**_** – Steve Mariboli**

* * *

Anna wakes in her room, on her bed, foggy and half-delirious. When she sits up, the room spins and she can see dots of stars line her vision. Her tongue is thick in her mouth. Back in the safety of her walls, Anna notices nothing in her room feels the same. It's all different, somehow.

It's night, but the glint of moonlight on glass isn't comforting. The snowflakes carved into her door is a painful reminder and Anna feels afraid. For the first time, Anna is afraid. Where she had grown with Elsa. Where they had explored each other's minds and souls. She was afraid of it. All of it.

She tries to cry, but the tears inside are frozen. Like her soul. Anna wants to blame Elsa, but it's so much more complicated than that.

"Hello there, little lady." a soft, gravelly voice says, "You've quite the injuries."

Anna turns slowly, hissing from the aches and pain. Her head is pounding and her shoulders are stiff. An old man sits by her bedside with a look of gentle concern on his face. Who is this man?

His hands are gnarled with age and work, beard so long it reaches his stomach. His watery dark eyes were assisted with old spectacles. He looks wise, like a sage. Anna swears she can shake dust off the man. His wispy hair is capped underneath a tall cone hat. The cone cap and his robes are a sweet midnight blue. He looks friendly enough; Elsa hadn't attacked him.

"Hello," Anna winces as her voice is raw and foreign to herself, "Who…who are you?"

"A family friend." the man's voice is gentle and slow, "I arrived here to ask some simple questions. To help."

He moves on quickly, cutting off any reply Anna can have. The look in his eyes glimmer and for a fleeting second, Anna can see herself in his eyes. For a moment. She can feel his eyes on her bruises and split lip, the concern radiating from his eyes.

But he doesn't ask how she got them. Instead, he focuses on her eyes. With difficulty.

"Anna, as an expert and scholar, I need to know the truth. There are some things in this world that regular men and women cannot fathom, simply because they fear what they do not know."

"And because of this, my job is rather simple. I take unique individuals blessed—"

"It's not a blessing." Anna's voice surprises her, flowing unconsciously from her lips. Her voice is quiet and subdued but her words are loud and clear. It refuses to shake, but remains silent. "It's not a blessing." Her voice repeats, and Anna can't control it. Her lips are bewitched.

The old man is taken aback, and raises his right hand in surrender. He means no harm.

"Okay, Anna." the old man nods slowly, and retreats for now. "I take unique individuals with…peculiarities such as yourself and bring them with me, to learn and to control—"

No. No no no.

"Are you going to take me away?" Anna feels terror grip her heart and tears gather in her eyes. Please, anything but that. Anna can't handle the outside walls again. She can't handle Elsa. She doesn't want to leave the walls. Not ever again.

A tense moment passes when he looks deep into her eyes. It feels as if the man is looking for something.

"No, child." he smiles warmly, kindly, at Anna and shakes his head slowly, "I'm not going to take you or anyone else away. All I am here for is to ask some rather simple questions."

Anna sighs, muscles relaxing and allowing her heart to slow down. Some simple questions. She can handle that.

"Now," the kind old man sits forward a little, and trains his soft watery eyes unto her. Somehow, it soothes her, "You're mother and father tell me that you have a…rather eccentric ability?"

Anna shakes her head slowly. "I don't have any abilities. It's all Elsa."

His gaze is like a hawk now. He watches her carefully and chooses his next words slowly. "And who is Elsa?"

A soft hum fills the room and it sounds remotely cautious. Anna's eyes flicker up, and she can see the air shimmer like a midnight desert mirage. "I don't think Elsa would like it if I said anything more."

The old sage's eyes don't miss how her eyes flashed to the ceiling.

"Okay then: I'll ask a question and you only have to say yes or no. Would…Elsa be more comfortable with that?" Elsa's name catches in his throat every time he says it.

The humming fades away and Anna can feel the air return back to normal. "Yes."

"Okay. Who is Elsa?"

A shrug. Anna has no clue.

The man sits back a bit and hums quietly to himself.

"Is she an apparition? Someone who's passed away and returned? A ghost, maybe?" The man ponders thoughtfully.

"No." Anna shakes her head slowly. There are a lot of things Anna didn't know about her spirit companion, but Elsa definitely wasn't someone who came back from the grave. She was too…alive.

The man twirls his serpent beard with his entire arm, unfurling and furling it again and again. It was surprisingly funny how long it was. Were all old men like this?

"Anna, I am going to bend the rules." He can sense her discomfort. "Only a little, your Highness. I promise." He smiles disarmingly at her and Anna hopes Elsa doesn't freeze him to death.

"Can you draw me a picture of you and Elsa?" He hands her a piece of paper and a pencil.

She can't say no to those eyes. They see and catch everything. But only in a kind way.

"Okay." Her voice is small and Anna wonders how her voice could change so much since she escaped her walls. Her voice was as quiet as snowfall, muted like a grey winter morning. Nothing like the sunshine her voice was before.

She takes the pencil and paper, scratching simple shapes into the page. This wasn't her art lessons. When she finally draws herself and gets to Elsa, Anna thinks for a moment before sketching in the final piece. Elsa is a cloud of scratches in the air, connected to Anna's person in picture by a string.

Handing the paper back to the man, Anna's eyes hang to her hands.

A moment of hush as the old man studies the picture. Anna can hear only hear silence.

"She's connected to you."

"Yes."

He speaks with purpose, and Anna can tell he is getting excited. "Is…is Elsa here now?"

A quiet hum in the air and Anna can feel a slight chill around the room. Something tugs in her chest and frost ghosts past her lips. The old man doesn't seem to notice.

"Yes."

He leans in closer and his eyes twinkle something fierce. He seems much more interested now. Curious, even.

She doesn't answer; doesn't need to. She stares at the cup of water placed on her nightstand, looking to the clear, tall glass sweating droplets on the wood. She flicks her wrist, wills Elsa to comply, and something amazing happens.

A flick of her wrist had tipped the glass into the air. The cup falls, water swirling out of the cup and into the air. The water freezes instantly as it touches the ground, capturing the water in a fascinating splash pattern, surging up into the cup supported by solid ice. With a snap of Anna's fingers, the glass cup is shattered and frozen into frozen fractals, like glass petals in the air.

She can hear the air leave the man's lungs. "That's…that's absolutely beautiful, little lady."

Anna feels her cheeks torch and focuses her gaze on her work. Honestly, it looks like a beautiful, sharp, flower. The stem slowing up into a blossom of frozen shards, roots splayed out into a swirl upon the ground.

"You tell her what to do…and it happens?"

"No, I don't tell Elsa to do anything." Anna feels nervous at how animated he's gotten. "I can only ask. She's like a lion in a cage."

He doesn't understand how dangerous she is. How she can kill if she wanted to. A gentle, disapproving wind catches the wisps of her hair, and a soft hum of gloom rings in the air, but Anna doesn't care. He has to know. Elsa can't be contained. "We're tied together…! She can't go away!" Her voice steadily rises into a panicked frenzy.

She has to make him see. Even if she upsets Elsa.

"Sometimes she gets angry." Her voice catches in her throat and crawls out her lips.

She had broken the rules to their little game. She can't help but wonder if Elsa would break something, too.

His voice is so gentle, it flows into her ears and catches by surprise. "Does she scare you?"

Anna remembers the beautiful snowflakes that dotted her ceilings after every lonely night, the frost on the window panes that coaxed out the moonlight to drive away the dark, frozen bedtime stories, breezes that kissed her cheeks.

Then.

She recalls with a shudder the raging monsoon of sleet and hail, the thunderstorm of ice and frost, violent gales ripping all around her, as if splitting into the sky. The frozen blood on the boys, the way the wind screamed at her, pikes of ice and terror and—

"Yes." Anna whispers.

He sits back in his chair, sighing softly. Leaning back, he looks so tired and old. Nothing like the kind boisterous man earlier. When he opens his eyes, there is a different fire in them.

"Do you want me to help you?"

Anna doesn't have to think. But Elsa's strident cry begs her to stop. That things could be the same again, that she can tell Anna bed time stories and make her laugh with the winter lights of glistening snowflakes. That things didn't have to be this way.

"Yes." Anna breathes out softly, looking into the old man's eyes with a ravenous hunger in them.

The old man reaches out and softly places his palm against her head. She can feel the same sensation of magic from Elsa within the old man. It crackles beneath his fingertips, humming softly with an unmistakable power.

* * *

"_Merlin, I want my daughter fixed. She's in danger."_

"_Your Highness, magic is a danger only to the ignorant."_

"_Tell that to these boys."_

"…_My God. Are they—"_

"_She attacked them with her ice sorcery. Her magic, Merlin. These boys are harmed and when they get back to their kingdom in the Southern Isles, they _will_ go to war. A war we can't win."_

* * *

"Now, I want you to count from three."

So she does. Slowly, with purpose.

She knows what's to come, but doesn't stop it. She's numb inside.

* * *

"_What do I have to do__, Merlin? Tell me what to do, I'll do it."_

"_You, my lord? Nothing. I fear, however, the cost will be high."_

"_Do it, Merlin. I need your help."_

* * *

"_Three."_

Elsa's frequency is mute. Anna can't hear her anymore.

* * *

"_Ancient magic. I can replace their memory, forget they were ever attacked by or seen the princess' power. However, I fear they will never be the same again. As will I."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Magic is corresponding, equivalent. It will always require an equal payment. As they say Justice is Blind, Magic Sees Everything." _

* * *

"_Two_."

Her vision is fading in and out of consciousness. Anna looks deep into his eyes. Blue eyes that sparked with magic, like snowflakes in the moonlight.

* * *

"_But can you help my daughter, Merlin? Can you heal her?"_

"_In a way."_

"…_How?"_

"_Something akin to the ancient magic I had used on the young princes. I can exchange her memories of her magic, forget she ever possessed them or used them. And of course, with those memories repressed, her magic will be as well." _

* * *

"_One."_

Anna closes her eyes and she breathes out slowly. Everything is so slow. She's falling backwards into her bed, falling deeper and deeper.

She can't even say Elsa's name. She can't remember what beautiful patterns Elsa made in her snowflakes. She can't remember the bed time stories anymore.

Everything is nothing at all.

She was never in control anyway.

* * *

**A/N: **And here we are again, with Anna passing out. Again. Sorry if all the line breaks and omnipercipient flashbacks are confusing.


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